The countdown continues to the greatest computer crisis of the century. Heard it all before? True, the Year 2000 (Y2K) message has been meted out ad nauseum. So much so that veteran Y2K doomsday prophet, Peter de Jager, is now being tagged a moderate as Y2K awareness in some circles hits frenzied proportions. Stories about senior executives in telecommunications and computer companies investing in their own generators, or buying into self sufficiency schemes in Kentucky and Idaho reflect the next level of mass hysteria.
Meanwhile, action to resolve the problem is not proportionate to the growing levels of global awareness. Criticism has been levelled at the latest trend towards self-preservation strategies which fail to deal with the problem head on and to work together to seek to resolve it. Mr de Jager's most recent online installation, In Defiance Of Defeatism, urges visitors to the Year 2000 Information Centre's Website (http://www.year2000.com) not to shirk from their responsibilities.
"The press and the Internet are now full of those who are truly crying the sky is falling and there is no hope. That your only choice to survive the coming catastrophe is to slink off into the hills, prepared to survive the collapse of civilisation. It's amazing to me that we went from denial to despair with nary a stop between," says Mr de Jager.
This from the man who told us planes would fall from the sky and nuclear plants would go up in flames. Though terrifying prospects, he has done more than most to focus minds on the possible implications of the Y2K problem. Now he is tempering his predictions with common sense, mundane and in some cases manual solutions. "I believe the mission critical stuff will get done. And where it doesn't get done, work arounds can, and will, be found."
While these words are encouraging, at an organisational level the threat of Y2K still looms large. The commercial future of many enterprises will hang on their readiness to bring their computer systems through to New Year's Day, 2000.
To drive the point home, a global Y2K action day will take place next Wednesday to coincide with the 500th day remaining before The Big Event. For many organisations that have not yet managed to set a Y2K programme in train, there may yet be just enough time to provide and test fixes.
The highlight of the day will be an Internet event in the form of a day-long real audio conference broadcast to raise awareness.
It will be hosted by Dr Ed Yardeni, the chief economist and managing director of Deutsche Bank Securities and one of the first business people to blow the whistle on the implications of the Y2K problem for commerce. Starting at 8 a.m., the event will be kicked off with an address by Senator Bob Bennett, chairman of the US Senate Y2K Committee. Continuing through the day to 6 p.m. the online conference will feature a star-studded cast of more than 30 financial, telecommunications, government and media luminaries, offering updates on the Y2K problem.
Mr Yardeni also hopes individuals will take the opportunity to raise awareness at a local level by emailing or writing letters to the press encouraging them to investigate local, national and global Y2K issues. Copies of the best letters sent to yardeni@y2kactionday.com will be selected and posted on the Website http:// www.yardeni.com/y2kaction.html for others to use. Mr Yardeni has also suggested the establishment of community action groups to assess the preparedness of vital local utilities, and devise contingency and disaster recovery plans if things go as badly as predicted.
The Year 2000 Information Centre (year2000.com) will continuously update its press clippings section to provide links to the international online coverage of the event, while also running some special features on the home page. However, Ireland's contribution to the global awareness event appears to be virtually non-existent. According to Mr Patrick O'Beirne, Ireland's leading Y2K and euro consultant, efforts to generate interest here have been foiled by poor timing in a month when many people are away on holiday. It is hoped there will be greater support for Ireland's own Y2K Awareness Day on September 9th which will coincide with the final Y2K awareness seminar organised by the Department of Enterprise and Employment.
"Because most people with home Internet connections would have difficulty downloading next week's real audio conference, it might be an idea to get a radio station to record the event and make highlights available for broadcast during the Irish Y2K awareness day next month," says Mr O'Beirne.
Though the Government has invested £100,000 in its Y2K awareness campaign, Mr O'Beirne believes this pales in comparison with the British budget of £97 million. He estimates a proportionately appropriate figure should be somewhere around £6 million. However, he expects independent efforts to highlight the Y2K issue in Ireland to improve in the latter part of the year when a number of major conferences are scheduled to take place.
Conferences:
September 9th DETE SME Awareness half-day. Contact:
SheehanT@entemp.irlgov.ie (Thomas Sheehan) Tel 661 4444.
September 15th Irish Independent Y2K/ euro conference. Theme is the conflict between the Year 2000 and euro projects. Contact: janejsa@indigo.ie (Jane Stephenson), mobile 087 417106.
October 1st Irish Computer Society Year 2000 Seminar. Themes: testing, the desktop, legal, insurance, contingency planning. Contact: info@ics.ie (Jennifer Leech) 6670599.
October 28th-30th IQPC Business Continuity Strategies, Burlington Hotel. Themes: continuity, risk management, contingency planning, crisis management and disaster recovery. Contact: y2kireland@iqpc.co.uk 0044 171 430 7300 Web: http:// www.iqpc.co.uk
November 25th IFTI Y2K conference, practical small business solution oriented. Contact: ifti@iol.ie (Francis Fullen) 01 6616997.
